Etienne Saqr

Etienne Saqr (1937-) was the leader of the Guardians of the Cedars militia during the Lebanese Civil War.

Biography
Etienne Saqr was born in 1937 in Ain Ebel, Lebanon to a family of Catholic Maronites. He joined the General Security Directorate in 1954 and fought against Nasserists in the 1958 Lebanon crisis, and in the early 1970s he formed the Lebanese Renewal Party, espousing Lebanese nationalism. Saqr became commander of the Guardians of the Cedars militia to force the Palestinians out of Lebanon, with "No Palestinians will remain in Lebanon" being one of their slogans. In 1990, he was imprisoned by the Lebanese Forces and placed under house arrest as the Lebanese Civil War drew to a close, and in 2000 he left for Israel as Israel withdrew from Lebanon. He said that the Israeli withdrawal had made heroes out of Hezbollah, and he went into exile in Cyprus after a Lebanese court sentenced him to death.